Para Sports
Para shuttler Pranay Seth stranded in Indonesia as BAI fails to process entry
Pranay Seth was stranded in Indonesia after the Badminton Association of India failed to process his entry for the tournament on time.

Para Shuttler Pranay Seth. (Source: PranaySeth/Instagram)
Para shuttler Pranay Seth was stranded in Indonesia after the Badminton Association of India failed to process his entry for the Indonesia Para-Badminton International tournament.
Despite receiving assurances from the BAI that his entry had been accepted, Pranay arrived in Indonesia, only to learn a day before the event that he was not registered to compete.
A budding para shuttler, Pranay funded this trip personally with many hardships but it is futile now due to the failure of the management at BAI.
“I feel helpless as all other athletes have started playing but can't. I aim to qualify for bigger tournaments but due to such mistakes, all my chances will be greatly impacted as I won't get ranking points. Also, I was playing singles and doubles but due to this my partner will also suffer. I am expecting immediate help from authorities," said Pranay.
His disappointment was compounded by the significant personal and financial sacrifices made to arrange for his participation in the tournament.
The incident comes one week after Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and other prominent shuttlers Sukant Kadam and Krishna Nagar criticized the Badminton Association of India for lack of apathy and ignoring the para shuttlers.
The shuttlers publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the BAI’s lack of attention and support for para-badminton and have asked the Sports Ministry to shift the management of the para-badminton to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).
"All we want is the basic facilities and proper communication from BAI. There have been many situations of entry not being processed and shuttlers being stranded in troubling situations," prominent para shuttler Sukant Kadam told The Bridge last week.
Krishna Nagar and Nitesh Kumar voiced their idea of taking the management of para-badminton to the Paralympic Committee of India.
"I think the Paralympic Committee of India is doing a brilliant job with Para Athletics and they are concerned about the problems faced by the para-athletes and are more proactive. It will make sense if para-badminton comes under PCI," Krishna Nagar reasoned.
At the moment the para-badminton community in the country hopes for the Sports Ministry to intervene and potentially transfer the oversight of the sport to PCI.